Tens of thousands hit the streets on May Day for immigrant rights

Tens of thousands of immigrants and supporters came out to march on May Day in Los Angeles and around the country. Large marches happened in Los Angeles, Chicago, Northern California and New York City. Braving the swine flu scare, which included media fear-mongering, families skipped work and school to hit the streets for immigrant rights.

Thousands protested on International Workers Day in Los Angeles on May 1, 2009.

In Los Angeles, the epicenter of the immigrant rights struggle, there were at least four marches on May 1. The largest and most spirited demonstration by far also came first in the day. Organized by the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, the march gathered at 12 noon and stepped off shortly thereafter with many thousands of people chanting “What do we want? Legalization! When? Now!” in Spanish and English. A national news broadcast on Univision reported that 15,000 people marched with the coalition.

The march began with the ceremonial releasing of 100 doves by coalition leaders, including representatives from Latino Movement USA, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Laborers’ International Union of North America, United Teachers Los Angeles, Alliance of Guatamalans, Alliance of Hondurans, Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica and others.

Shortly thereafter, over 1,500 students who walked out of nearby high schools joined the march, chanting loudly, “¡Obama escucha, estamos en la lucha! (Obama, listen—we are in the struggle!)

With the crowd swelling, the march made its way up Broadway, the main commercial artery in downtown Los Angeles. Shoppers and passersby joined the action along the route. Workers in buildings lining the street opened windows and waved flags in support of the march below.

A brief program at the march’s conclusion hit on the themes of the day: winning legalization for all the undocumented workers and families in the United States; stopping the racist Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids terrorizing immigrants; and winning better workers’ rights for all. Rally co-chairs Juan José Gutiérrez, Latino Movement USA, and Raul Murillo, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, voiced the demands of the energetic and determined crowd: “President Obama made a solemn pledge to bring comprehensive immigration reform in his first 100 days in office. He has not done that. We must continue to struggle to win legalization for everyone. We will not stop marching until we prevail,” Gutiérrez said.

The ANSWER Coalition had two speakers at the rally, ANSWER L.A. coordinator Preston Wood, and youth coordinator Carlos Alvarez. Both are also members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which fully mobilized for this action.

Wood was the second speaker at the rally, following UTLA President A.J. Duffy. Wood told the crowd:

“We are here to demand justice, dignity and equality for everyone. We want legalization, but we can’t stop there—we demand an end to exploitation and discrimination of all forms. We need more workers’ rights, more union jobs, and access to affordable health care, education and housing for all. This is not out of reach. Our labor creates all the wealth in society—we deserve to reap the benefits.

“Sisters and brothers, if we keep the struggle alive, we will win. No politician will ever talk about what we need if we just sit quietly at home. This has always been true: from the labor movement to the Civil Rights movement and the immigrant rights movement today.

“Whether you are Latino, Asian, Arab, African American or white—we are united here in struggle. Winning equality for undocumented workers is a necessary step toward achieving justice for everyone. Let’s keep fighting!”